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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Welcome to poverty.

As someone who is very very poor it bothers me when reading about people who complain about having more money than me and saying there is just no way they can live on it. I’m sure all people can relate to a similar situation. People always tend to think that others have more than them and that its just not fair. I try not to have a viewpoint like that, because I really just see it as ungrateful for what we do have and been blessed with, but sometimes I just can’t help it. I hear people complaining about how much their bills are, but then they also have all these extras they feel are necessary, and since I don’t like to judge I’ll concede those extras might really be necessary, but it makes me so frustrated. Especially when they add in that they’re angry because they can’t afford to get their hair or nails done this week, or have to cut back on going out to eat or some other bit of silliness. Or even worse when its a stay at home wife who is angry because her husband says they just can’t afford something extra because they had an unexpected bill come up. I hate when people complain about how “poor” they are, and how its not fair that all these ungrateful people get assistance while they have to “scrape by,” or just “make do.” All the while I’m thinking I’d love for us to bring home that much money.

On average my husband works 45-50 hours a week and brings home, after taxes insurance and such, about $320 a week. Subtract the $110 we set out for our mortgage each week, plus about $60 to set aside for bills, and the $70-80 we use in gas, that leaves us with $80-70 a week to buy groceries and make it the rest of the week on. After groceries we’re generally left with maybe $30-20 depending on what we have to buy sometimes we’re lucky to be left with $10. On that we have to pray that none of our bills will be more than we expected and that no emergencies (such as a sick child) come up, and that somehow we can make it through the week with some of that left over so we can attempt to pay on all of Bella’s doctor bills and the credit card that got maxed out with more doctor bills when Bella was dropped from insurance. We have to pray John doesn’t get too sick to work because even just losing a 1/2 a day of pay throws us into a serious tail spin.

Can you see why I tend not to pity those complaining of money problems?